Empire Rising: Spain-Chapter 75 - 74: A Father’s Love

Seeing Carlo’s troubled expression upon hearing the word "marriage," Emanuele II assumed Carlo was just shy and said with a smile, "It’s okay, Carlo, this is a step you must experience.

Your two brothers are already married, so it’s your turn now."

Carlo was certainly not shy, but at the moment, it was hard to explain, so he could only nod.

After all, although some members of the British Royal Family had been diagnosed with hemophilia at this time, its threat to the entire European Royal Family had not yet fully manifested.

"Alright, child. Don’t worry, I’ll keep an eye out for you. If a suitable match is found, I’ll inform the Spanish Government.

However, don’t be too strict with your criteria for finding a Queen, as for us nobles, political interests outweigh personal love.

If you truly like a girl, you can always make her your lover, right?" Emanuele II said with a smile, patting Carlo’s head again.

When Carlo was still underage, Emanuele would avoid discussing topics like lovers.

But now that Carlo has come of age and has become the King of Spain, such topics naturally need to be addressed.

"However, child, while you can have lovers, it’s best not to have too many or meddle with too many married women.

With your status as King and the royal family’s wealth, there are plenty of young and beautiful girls for you to choose from," Emanuele II warned. "If you don’t want your reputation to be tarnished by promiscuity, you’d best heed my words, child."

Although having lovers is almost the norm among European nobility, it doesn’t mean the people are willing to see their King engaged in affairs with many married women.

After all, as a ruler of a nation, reputation is exceedingly important. Angering the populace could lead to being forced to abdicate or even being overthrown by a revolution, which would be quite a loss.

If it’s a brief fling, that’s one thing; you generally become familiar strangers afterward.

But if you’re in a relationship as a long-term lover, it’s best to find unmarried girls from clean backgrounds, so there won’t be significant troubles later.

Carlo could only nod again.

Carlo also understood this.

In this era, there’s no design like a "small umbrella," not to mention that contraceptive technologies are quite underdeveloped.

If he were to catch any related illness, it would be utterly disadvantageous for Carlo.

Seeing Carlo frequently nodding in such an obedient manner, Emanuele II felt delighted and said with a smile, "I heard you transplanted the Sun Newspaper to Madrid. How is it developing now?

Your business acumen is quite remarkable, little guy. The assets of the Spanish Royal Family should be considerable now, shouldn’t they?"

The Sun Newspaper, which Carlo founded in Italy, has now become one of Italy’s largest newspapers. Because Carlo became King of Spain, after discussing it with his father Emanuele, he sold 51% of the shares to the Italian Royal Family, retaining only 49% himself for dividends.

Now, more than a year later, the Italian Sun has become one of the top three newspapers in all of Italy, with daily sales surpassing Carlo’s initial target of 50,000 copies.

Of course, the reason for such high sales is that the Sun Newspaper opened branches in both Rome and Turin, adding up to break the 50,000-copy daily sales benchmark.

Although 50,000 copies don’t seem like much, it directly influences over 50,000 families, reaching at least tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of people.

When it comes to indirectly influenced groups, it’s likely to be at least in the millions. Given enough time, even several million isn’t impossible.

After all, most illiterate people in Italy wouldn’t buy newspapers; they rely on word of mouth for information about the outside world. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

If nothing unusual happens, the Italian Sun’s sales will likely remain at this level, with no significant increase in the short term.

After all, with Italy’s illiteracy rate approaching seventy percent, without improving the level of education, not that many people will purchase newspapers.

But in any case, the success of the Sun Newspaper has proven that Carlo’s business savvy is indeed excellent.

Emanuele, holding more than half of the Sun Newspaper’s shares, naturally knows roughly how much his younger son has earned through the creation of the Sun.

"Father, you know that the newspaper’s income is ultimately a small part," Carlo said, looking helpless and shrugged. "Spain’s development plan ensures that steel mills won’t lack funds, but the Spanish Royal Family doesn’t have nearly enough money to build them.

Currently, the Royal Family’s income can only maintain the Royal Palace’s expenses and the 2,000-strong Guard Corps; any more, and the royal family would go bankrupt."

Although Carlo’s assets have increased exponentially compared to when he left Italy, when facing his father, it’s still important to plead poverty when necessary.

The Savoy Family has been entrenched in Italy far longer than the Bourbon family ruled Spain, and naturally accumulated considerable wealth.

Carlo naturally wants to scrape a bit of money from his father, even if through an interest-free loan, as it’s far better than borrowing from other countries.

After all, other countries charge high loan interest, and there are all sorts of additional conditions that are not conducive to Spain’s future development.

But if the loan is from the Italian Royal Family, while the amount might not be large, it’s likely to be interest-free or low-interest, without overly harsh conditions.

For Carlo, who is in dire need of money now, every little bit helps; even if it’s small, it’s still meat, which he doesn’t despise.

"You child, already the King of Spain, and still come back to lament poverty to me?" Emanuele II chuckled helplessly, but he did not refuse Carlo, saying:

"Speaking of which, it’s been over a year since you left Italy. This time, I’ll return your annuity to you.

If you really lack funds, I can offer you an interest-free loan of 10 million Lira through the Italian Royal Family, to be repaid within 10 years.

If the Spanish Government lacks funds, let them negotiate with Italian banks; I can’t help them. Even if Italian banks are willing to lend to the Spanish Government, the necessary interest can’t be avoided, though some additional conditions might be waived.

The bankers aren’t in it for charity. If Prim wants to borrow from Italian banks, he should be prepared to pay high interest."

Emanuele II naturally cared for his son but that doesn’t mean he would unconditionally support the Spanish Government.

The Spanish Royal Family and the Italian Royal Family are naturally close, but when it comes to national interests, transactions are calculated clearly.

Emanuele II wouldn’t harm the interests of Italian capitalists due to Carlo, and Carlo understood this.

In fact, Emanuele II offering a 10 million Lira interest-free loan to help Carlo was already very touching to Carlo.

million Lira, worth 400,000 Pounds, used to invest in steel mills, could increase assets several times within ten years.

To provide such a sum, enough to build the most powerful ironclad, as an interest-free loan to Carlo, speaks volumes about his love for his son.